Performative Ceramics

Performative Ceramic Screens was a research-led teaching competition organised by the Emergent Ceramics Lab at the Liverpool School of Architecture. The workshop focused on the design and fabrication of a prototype of sustainable ceramic light-diffusing ceiling for a museum, to distribute daylight while protecting light-sensitive art pieces.

By means of light-control techniques, geometrical analysis and contemporary digital design and prototyping tools, I explored the ceramic surface to generate a system that blocks direct light (to control heat and UV radiation) and distributes light uniformly throughout the room.

The final design comprises of series of slipcast porcelain tubes, shaped using a Voronoi grid system and with an undulating lower surface to break up the regularity of a standard honeycomb diffusion system. The porcelain tubes will be arranged in groups of tessellating units and hung in a metal frame.

Performative Ceramic Screens was a research-led teaching project organised by the Emergent Ceramics Lab at the Liverpool School of Architecture. The workshop focused on the design and fabrication of a prototype of sustainable ceramic light-diffusing ceiling for a museum, to distribute daylight while protecting light-sensitive art pieces.

1:10 3D Print

The final design comprises of series of slipcast porcelain tubes, shaped using a Voronoi grid system and with an undulating lower surface to break up the regularity of a standard honeycomb diffusion system. The porcelain tubes will be arranged in groups of tessellating units and hung in a metal frame.

As part of the workshop I produced a mockup of a small section (4500mm x 3000mm) of the ceiling at a scale of 1:10, which was 3D printed and then installed in a wooden grid. A heliodon was then used to analyse the performance of the model, Ecotcet was also used to verify the results on a larger scale. A smaller section of the ceiling is now being fabricated from porcelain.

1:2 Slip Cast Maquette

This research focus forms part of the Network of Ceramic Tile Studies Departments sponsored by ASCER – Tile of Spain (Association of Ceramic Tile Manufacturers of Spain), and coordinated through the ICEX (The Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade) in the UK.